Learn the advantage of 210 components through this article

The increase in the size of silicon wafers has become an inevitable trend in the development of the photovoltaic industry. On the manufacturing side, large-size silicon wafers can increase the output of silicon wafers, cells and modules, thereby reducing the production cost per watt; on the product side, large-size silicon wafers can effectively increase the power of modules, which can be improved by optimizing the design of cells and modules’ efficiency; on the system side, as the power and efficiency of monolithic components improve, large-sized silicon wafers can reduce the cost of brackets, combiner boxes, cables, land, etc., thereby diluting the cost of a single-watt system.

Reduce costs and increase efficiency, solve pain points

The battery is an intermediate product from silicon wafers to modules, and the cost of the battery determines the cost of the module, the main equipment of the photovoltaic system. Therefore, looking at the future potential of component size, it is inevitable to first see the potential for cost reduction per watt. At this point, the excellence of the 210 size is outstanding.

When using 210mm silicon wafers, the wattage of a single cell increases, which corresponds to an increase in the total power per hour of printing, thereby reducing the production cost per watt. According to research, using 210mm silicon wafers, the production cost per watt of cells can be reduced by more than 20%, and the production cost per watt of modules can be reduced by 14%.

For photovoltaic systems using 210mm size components, the cost reduction space will reach more than 0.1 yuan / watt. According to industry insiders, 210 products are the only visible and tangible route to reduce costs to a greater extent in the next two to three years.

The design institute takes 210 modules, 182 modules, and 166 modules as the target. Through calculation, it is concluded that the low-voltage side cost corresponding to the three modules decreases significantly with the increase of power. The 545Wp module of 210mm silicon wafer is used at different latitudes. The overall cost under the conditions is the lowest value. Compared with the 166-type 445Wp module, the reduction is between 0.1-0.17 yuan/W; compared with the 182-type 535Wp module, the reduction is between 3-7 cents/W.

Compared with the current mainstream modules in the market, the cost reduction per watt of modules using 210mm silicon wafers (hereinafter referred to as 210 modules) will reach more than 0.1 yuan, making the power station using 210 modules more valuable for investment.

Flexible provision of multi-power products: module products based on 210 silicon wafers can be applied in all scenarios through a variety of layout designs, and promote cost reduction and efficiency enhancement in each segmented application market. At present, there are about 5 sizes of 210 modules released in the industry. The output power of the modules ranges from 400W to 660W. They are used in different market segments, covering the household market, industrial and commercial distribution, agricultural, fishing and other composite projects as well as large-scale ground power station and many other scenes.

Logistics and transportation packaging issues: Previously, there was a lot of controversy over the 210 series logistics and transportation issues. The inner size of the commonly used 40HC (high container) container is 12*2.35*2.69 meters, and the door height is 2.58 meters. According to the size data of different components, it can be calculated that the transportation cost of 210 silicon wafer 550W (55 pieces)/500W (50 pieces) modules can be lower than the transportation cost of 166 (72 pieces) 450W modules by 0.0102 yuan/0.0033 yuan/ W. When the 210 silicon wafer module reaches 600W (60 pieces), by adjusting the placement of the modules in the container from horizontal to vertical, the transportation cost is only 0.0024 yuan/W higher than that of the 210-sized 550W module, which is still lower than 166 The size of the 450W component is 0.0078 yuan/W.

In terms of transportation, the author uses Risen Energy and Trina Solar as examples. Risen Energy once gave one of many transportation solutions when the 600W module was released: taking a 40-foot container as an example, it can transport 584 pieces of 600W modules, each 73 pieces is a pallet, a total of 8 pallets, and the gross weight of each pallet is 2630 kg.

On the other hand,Trina released the transportation plan for 210 components on the official website: short and long double-layer vertical stacking packaging method. On the basis of improving the vertical space utilization rate of the container, the short and long two-layer vertical stacking packaging method is adopted. Compared to the first-generation Apex, the standard container's packaging watts are further increased by about 9%, providing a more economical, safe and reliable logistics solution.

For the container transportation problem of 210 products in the industry, there is already a good solution, which will not bring obstacles to the handling and installation, and there is no problem that leads to an increase in labor costs. Moreover, the feedback I got from the front line of the market is that 210 has begun to ship on a large scale in China, and the market capacity will exceed 20GW by the end of the year.

The industry chain of 210 is fully mature

From the second half of 2020 to the present, the leading companies of inverters and tracking brackets have also been fully upgraded, and 210 adaptation products have been launched. From the end of January to the beginning of February, leading inverter companies such as Sungrow, Huawei, and Jinlang Technology have successively released inverter products suitable for 210 components. The issue of inverter adaptation is an important part of opening up the application of 210 ultra-high power module products on the system side. The full launch of 210 module adapter inverters marks that the 600W+ photovoltaic open innovation ecological alliance is more mature and ecologically complete. At the same time, the world's leading photovoltaic tracking bracket manufacturers have also successively issued certification statements that fully adapt to 210 ultra-high-power modules. The industry chain is seamlessly matched and win-win cooperation.

In the tide of 210 modules leading the re-upgrading of the photovoltaic industry, the supporting industry chain is the most critical. In particular, photovoltaic glass needs to adapt to the width of the module from 1 meter to 1.3 meters, which is full of challenges and opportunities for glass companies. Market concerns: Will large-scale glass production capacity become a "bottleneck"?

After the inverter and tracking bracket brands successively announced their adaptation to 210 ultra-high-power modules, in early March, a number of glass leading companies gave positive answers and made great strides to upgrade their production capacity. Provide strong support for customer needs. According to incomplete statistics, the actual supply of photovoltaic glass supporting 600W+ modules by only the above-mentioned manufacturers in the market will exceed 50 GW this year, and will further increase to more than 120 GW in 2022.

As the demand for ultra-high-power components such as 210 enters a white-hot stage, it is foreseeable that more glass companies will see market opportunities and accelerate the increase in glass production capacity. With the release of more large-size glass production capacity, the 210 capacity upgrade will be full of stamina, and 600W+ modules will be put on the market on a large scale, bringing higher value returns to customers.

Focus on the future

After about a year of precipitation, the 210 large-scale ecology has gradually improved, and the core raw and auxiliary materials such as silicon wafers, batteries, components, glass, and inverters have been well matched, helping the application and promotion of large-scale products. In addition, modules based on 210 large-size silicon wafers can also be designed with a variety of layouts to realize a variety of power segment products, and promote multiple scenarios such as household, industrial and commercial distribution, agriculture, fishery and light, as well as ground power stations and other scenarios to reduce costs and increase efficiency.

At present, the leading companies in the industry have established product routes for large-size batteries and modules. According to actual market research, almost all manufacturers' new large-size module production capacity is designed to be 210 and backward compatible, and even some are being deployed. Manufacturers of 182 components, which also reflects the industry's optimism about the development prospects of 210.

Although in the short term, the large-scale industrial application of 210 silicon wafers cannot be realized for the time being. However, the 210 wafer production line invested now does not have the risk of being eliminated, and the benefits brought by the large throughput of 210 size wafers are irreversible. The progress of society is inevitably accompanied by the replacement and replacement of technology, and the survival of the fittest is the inevitable result of social development. Which technology should be promoted should not only look at existing conditions, but also focus on future development.

From the current form, with the advancement of technology, the existing technical bottleneck of 210 silicon wafers has been broken through and large-scale production has been expanded. At that time, the market will give a new answer. At the same time, under the situation of subsidy decline in 2021 and full entry into parity or even low-price competition, 210 components will effectively improve user income and promote the further development of the industry.